The Most Beautiful, Powerful and Talented!
by The Jaye Benjamin
Summary: DISCONTINUED. There's a huge Author's Note for more in formation, chapter 5.
1. Wait What?

**Wait—what?!**

"Hold on a second," the girl objected, holding a slender palm up towards the white-haired man's moustached face. Her facial expression... well it wasn't pretty. It was actually as ugly as a pretty face could get. Pure frustration radiated from her green eyes as she flicked her slim ponytail over her shoulder and onto her back. "You're saying I can't have a piplup?"

"Well yes," the man grunted, brushing the hand from his face. He wore a lab coat, which covered most of his upper body, and some fairly professional clothes beneath. "I can't just send every trainer who comes to me off with a new turtwig, chimchar or piplup, can I? I haven't got the resources, nor can I hatch so many eggs every day. And before you ask, no you cannot have a Pokédex. I only had three, and I gave them to three other trainers. This is not a factory, it's a laboratory."

"Professor Rowan, please," the girl beseeched, letting the hand just brushed aside fall to her side. "I need this pokémon. My mother's very sick and if I—"

"Your mother's perfectly healthy; I talked to her this morning on the phone before you flew in," Professor Rowan interrupted, moving his left leg to turn around and head back into the laboratory behind him. "I'm very sorry, young lady, but I can't help you. You'll have to catch something else. The north route had a varie—"

"The north route has starly, bidoof and shinx. I don't want one of them. I want a pip..."

"As I said, I can't help you." His gruff voice came over the top of the girl's once again.

"...lup," she finished, folding her arms and pivoting. "Fine. You know what? I'm going to write a letter. Yes, you heard me. I'll write a letter to the Bureau of Pokémon Research and they will fire you."

"Oh, please," the professor half-grunted, half-chuckled, heading back into the lab. "That Arielle Leroy... so impatient."

"... what does "bureau" mean, anyway?" the girl growled as she skirted through the sand-littered streets of Sandgem Town back towards home, thin ponytail the shade of a bonsly bouncing behind her. She just wanted her piplup, why did the old man have to be so mean? Slowing down, she pulled her arms up before her in imitation of someone big and masculine and bopped from left to right as she said in a mock Professor Rowan voice, "'I can't just give every trainer a pokémon, can I?' Please, I'm no ordinary trainer. I'm Arielle Leroy! The most beautiful, talented and powerful trainer-to-be in all of Sinnoh! Surely he could _see_ that!"

"Floaroma?" the Staraptor Man assumed as he counted the money she had just handed him. He had a kind of stout figure that annoyed her. She didn't really know why.

"Yeah," Arielle said sulkily back. "Can you make them go faster, though? I don't want to be in the air for any longer than an hour."

"No can do, missy, my staraptor aren't trained for speed, but for strength. You'll have to deal with it."

Okay, it was one thing to tell the future most powerful and beautiful and talented trainer in Sinnoh that she had to deal with a slow staraptor, but calling her fat like that. _"My staraptor aren't trained for speed, but for strength"_ – just who did this guy think he _was_?! Even more cheesed off, the girl scrambled into a basket, fumes practically blasting from her ears. She remained this way for the rest of the way home. A whole _hour and a half_ away. An aeroplane would have been faster.

And when she fell out of the basket at the Floaroma Staraptor Man's feet, her mood could only worsen. The sweet aroma of home wasn't even enough to calm her. She needed the comfort of a baths and some cookies and a long session of her father's pokémon contest tapes. It was either that or she got a piplup as soon as she walked through her front door.

Instead of a piplup, though, she got a farewell party.

There were about twenty people of varying ages squashed in a small, flower-decorated living room, every one of them grinning under a pink banner with blue script saying, _CONGRADUALTIONS ARI!_

Arielle felt her reaction was quite calm for her. She took in a nice, big breath and then yelled for half an hour about how insanely pathetic Professor Rowan was and how her mother didn't warn her about there being no pokémon left and how the stupid Staraptor Man wouldn't make his stupid birds fly faster. With that all said, she stormed through the corridor and into her room, followed by her mother who sat beside her as she buried her face in her pillow.

"Ari, honey, just because you can't have a piplup, doesn't mean it's the end of the world," she said quietly, yet just over the muffled sobs and groans her daughter occasionally let out. "Please stop crying. I-I'll get your father to catch you a better pokémon. A-a buizel or somethi—"

"But I don't want a buizel, they're too big and-and annoying and mean," Arielle cried into her pillow, squirming like a wurmple on its back. "I want a piplup! P-I-P-L-A-P."

"Your father will go out and catch you a pokémon in the morning, I promise. And if he can't, we'll have to buy you one."

"A good one."

"Y-yes honey. A good one."

---

The 'good one' was a combee.

Arielle stared at it with the most unimpressed of all looks ever to exist and it stared back, all chipper and happy, ready to start a journey with its new trainer. The girl really had no problem with not returning the little bug's feelings.

"No thanks. Get me another one."

"Ari_elle_!" her father almost yelled in outrage.

"Your father put a lot of work into catching you a pokémon, young lady," said her mother in the same tone, pointing her finger out at the ten-year-old's face, "so accept it now and go pack your bags."

They could see the anger flare up in their daughters' eyes. Reckless anger. Worry immediately enveloped them and as Arielle left the room with the little bug buzzing along behind her. Arielle's mother turned to her husband.

"Bill, I don't think I can let her go," she murmured, letting her pointed finger fall. "I-I mean... she's our daughter... and she's only ten. She can't go out there... it's too dangerous. What if something happens to her?"

Her parents' voices faded as she shut the door to her room behind her, locking the combee out. At least she was able to go on that journey now. She had to admit that was a plus. But with a _combee_. Combee were probably the worst pokémon to catch ever. They were so weak, like all bug-types, and so they were stupid. Ari might have been happier with a drifloon from near the wind works... even though they only appeared on Fridays, and today was a Sunday. And so, as she packed her winter clothes and her trainer's stuff, Ari couldn't help but mutter things like "stupid, weak combee" and "I wanted a piplup". At least she did until there was a sudden _bang_ and a blast of wind knocking her onto her bed.

She flicked herself around defiantly as the wind ceased to see the little yellow, winged pokémon buzzing there, looking as chipper as ever. Ari's return look wasn't chipper at all. She pouted and brushed it out of the way, moving back over to her bag, zipping it up and swinging it over onto her back. The combee buzzed behind her as she headed back down the hallway, ending up in the kitchen with her parents.

"I'm set," she said blankly, not afraid to show that she still wasn't impressed with the idea of a combee as a starter. That and the fact that she had now completely given up on becoming the most beautiful, talented and strong pokémon master of all time. "Um, do you have any spare pokéballs? Trainers need more than one pokémon, you know."

"Got that covered," her father said with a smile, holding up his wallet. "I'll buy you some when we leave town."

"Wait – we?" Ari almost yelled. "You say that like you're coming with me..."

"Um, listen, Ari..." her mother began with a mixed look of apologies and worry.

"What the _hell!_"

Ari's father held up a hand to silence her. That always worked for some reason. It frustrated her. Her mother continued.

"Mind your language. Your father and I feel it's not safe," she said with the same apologetic-anxious look. "I would have trusted Professor Rowan's pokémon to take you around Sinnoh; they were bred for that. Combee, however, hardly make a great pokémon for travel. So your father is going with you."

"But—"

"It's not forever, just until we can trust your pokémon to take care of you," Ari's father said, trying to compromise.

"But, _daddy!_" Ari protested. There was no way she was going through with this. She slowed her breathing, and took hold of the combee which was conveniently buzzing next to her, all happy and stuff. "I believe this combee can do it!" She didn't really; she just didn't want to be the laughing stock of the entire trainer community. "If I can't get to the next town safely, I'll le—"

"Eterna City's a very long trek from here." Fathers were so frustrating. "Not many trainers even make it there with one of Professor Rowan's starters, let alone a freshly-caught wild pokémon. Hell, few can even make it to Eterna Forest!"

"Why not go south to Jubilife?"

"What's down there? The closest gym after that is the Oreburgh Gym, and do you really want to put a partflying-type up against Roark's rock-types?"

Damn him and his logic.

"Well... I don't care. I'm going by myself anyway, and that's final."

An hour later, Arielle stalked behind her father as he waved to his wife and the ever-happy combee zipped in circles around them.

---

**Author's Note**: For those reading _The Child Is Light,_ I'm thinking of discontinuing it. If anyone wants to keep it going, don't be afraid to message me and ask. As for this, the idea had been forming in my head for a long time – even before _The Child Is Light_ was even there, but I never made anything of it. Hope you enjoy.


	2. Tales

**Tales**

So Arielle was travelling with two companions she never wanted in the first place, it was hot, and she was getting extremely annoyed with her father's tales of his own pokémon journey. For a while, she contemplated ditching him and swimming to the Feugo Ironworks, as they were just a few kilometres up the river, it wouldn't be hard. The thought was pushed away for two reasons: knowing Arielle, she would probably be attacked by raging tentacool and such; and knowing Arielle's father, he would probably chase her the entire way, even if he was attacked and she wasn't. Besides, the man was carrying her backpack for her. If she were to bail, she'd need her change of clothes and items. Not to mention the combee's pokéball that was inside.

"... and that's how I lost my first ribbon to your uncle Ernie," the man concluded before taking in a breath. "Now, the tale of the Floaroma contest is a lot more interesting than that. No, I didn't win, but I met someone very special there..."

"Dad, I get it. You were a crap coordinator and you met mother at one of the contests you lost."

"Mind your language, young lady," he grunted back, green eyes scouting the area. Arielle got her eyes from him, which was unfortunate. If eyes were the window to the soul, would that mean that she and he had the same soul or something? If this was so, Arielle was ready to give up all hope on becoming the most beautiful, talented and powerful trainer ever. "And I'm sorry that I have to be the one starting up conversations. You haven't said a word since we left the PokéMart."

"That's because I don't want you to come with me," Ari retaliated with a 'way-to-state-the-obvious' tone. The combee buzzed in front of her and did what looked like a head-tilt. Could combee do that? It then chirped its own name a few times and returned to buzzing around the nearby berry trees. Arielle raised an eyebrow. "I don't even know what you said, so I'll ignore it."

"Hey, old man!" A voice from behind broke a predicted silence as the two walked on. Ari turned, followed by her father. The boy was fairly tall, with a mop of dirty-blonde hair. He wore simple jeans of blue denim and a gray shirt that had a funny hood on the back. He was wearing a backpack and holding a pokéball in his hand. "I've seen you on the T.V before!"

"Ah, no you haven't," Ari butted in before her father could talk. "Now if you don't mind, we'll be go—"

"Yeah, I have! You're an old coordinator!" he seemed like he was about to burst with excitement. Arielle would have cringed. "Yeah, I saw you! And your pokémon! They looked heaps weak!"

"Hey, now!" Ari growled, once again before her father could make a noise. Even though he was really ticking her off by accompanying her on her journey, Ari still didn't like the fact that some snot-nosed kid was going to tease him. Only she could do that. "That was mean! I bet he could beat you any day!"

"Not likely." This kid was arrogant. Arielle didn't like him. "I just beat Roark and got the Mine Badge off him. Your dad probably couldn't beat his geodude!"

"Oh yeah? How about you battle him then!"

"That's what I was getting to...?" The boy cocked an eyebrow. Meanwhile, Ari's father looked slightly ashamed. The combee buzzed slowly from the berry trees muttering to itself contently, each of its faces covered in the blue juice from an oran berry.

"I haven't battled since I was sixteen," the older man said, with a shake of his head. He did, however, reach for the backpack hanging from his shoulder.

"Doesn't matter! Just makes it easier on me! C'mon, one-on-one, first to faint loses!" The boy began hopping from foot to foot in anticipation. Ari's father let out a sigh and pulled a pokéball from his bag. However, the boy was first to throw. "Go, Ari!"

"Uh – what?" Ari said, cocking an eyebrow. Was this kid calling her out to battle or something? The light faded, however, and it revealed a small, blue pokémon with a tiny beak. It was a piplup. Ari's immediate reaction to the situation was running at the boy, tackling him, and pinning him to the ground with an expression of fury unlike anything she would think the boy had seen. "THAT'S. MY. _PIPLUP._"

Something light and wet began pounding against her back. After a moment, the force of whatever was on her back pushed her into the air, flipping her over the boy. She landed on her face, body falling limply after her and the combee zipping over to check if she was okay (though Ari couldn't make any sense of what it was saying in its distress). With a slow push, Ari lifted herself from the dirt into a sitting position and flicked herself around to stare at the piplup. It was standing with its arms at its sides and a scowl on its face. Clearly it didn't like people attacking its trainer.

"Arielle, what were you thinking?" Her father rushed over with her bag. He wiped something from under her nose and stared irritably into her eyes. The blonde boy looked shocked, still lying on the ground. Ari decided to ignore her father and looked around him at the boy.

"That piplup – you got him from Professor Rowan, didn't you?!" She didn't bother hiding the venom in her voice.

"Uh – yeah, yesterday, why?" the boy answered, looking as confused as ever.

"Because that piplup had my name on it! And it still does! You named it Ari!"

"For Arianna, I thought it suited her..."

"Whatever, I challenge you to a battle!" Ari said, standing. "Quit your gasping, old man, I'm going to kick this guy's can. My combee against your piplup! I win, I take the piplup, you win and you keep it."

"Wait, Arielle, that's hardly fair!" her father tried to protest. It didn't do anything. The combee chirped happily and buzzed in front of her. The blonde boy laughed and let his piplup jump forward.

"My name is Arielle Leroy," Ari growled at the boy. "You'd better remember it, because I'm going to be the most beautiful, talented and powerful —"

"Arianna, use peck."

A moment later, Arielle's combee fell to the ground, defeated after one peck attack. The piplup landed in front of her trainer as her beak ceased its glowing. Ari's mouth shut. She didn't want to finish her sentence anymore.

"What was that about talented and powerful?" the boy chuckled out as he crouched to pat Ariana the piplup on the head. Arielle pouted aggressively, refusing to make a sound. The boy just laughed again. "I'm Brody Callaghan, and I'm keeping my piplup."

"Arielle! What were you thinking?" her father whispered harshly, grabbing her arm. "That was so reckless! You have to think! It's just a piplup!"

"Dad, I've wanted a piplup since I was this big!" She stuck her hand out to demonstrate her point.

"Wait, dad?" The blonde boy decided to speak again. Great. "You mean you're travelling with your _dad?_ Wow, you're more of a loser than I thought."

"_How dare you?_" Ari gasped, pushing her father away and stalking forward. By the time she got halfway to the point where she should punch the boy in the face, she was blown back by a blast of bubbles, causing her to land, once again, in the dirt. "It's not my fault, they insisted and wouldn't let me leave without one of them and I wanted the piplup, but you got there before me and I was so cut, and then the Staraptor Man was being horrible and then he--" she jabbed a finger towards her father's face "--got me a stupid combee that's so _weak_ and _childish_ and _stupid_ and I don't even _understand_ what it says, it's just 'combee! Combee! Combee!', and my life is _miserable_."

It was at this point where she crossed both her legs and arms and turned away from the other two. She could sense their stares as she sat there, almost crying. She wasn't being dramatic at all. All she wanted was t be the most beautiful and talented and powerful pokémon trainer of all time. It really wasn't that hard, but no, everyone else had to go and _make_ it hard by being so difficult themselves. It was safe to say that she hated her life.

The sound of her combee being sucked back into its pokéball came from behind her and was followed by the sound of small rocks and dirt crunching underneath feet as her father came forward. "I have to say, Ari, you know how to throw a tantrum."

"'snotatantrum."

"Right, well we need to rest a bit. Pokémon have natural healing mechanisms, so you shouldn't worry too much about pokémon centres and revives all the time. Once Combee's fit and ready, you can train it up and we'll head towards Eterna."

The next hour was spent sitting with Brody, his piplup, his shinx, named Clyde, and a heap of picnic food shared between them. The boy had apologised for acting like a jerk towards Ari's father, and the two accepted the apology and let him stay. Brody was from Oreburgh City, and often watched his father work in the mines until he got Arianna through the transporter in the Oreburgh City pokémon centre. He won the battle against Roark quickly and immediately set out for Eterna. He tended to enjoy moving quickly, and hadn't actually rested all that much since he had left his home, which was why he had just fallen asleep on Ari's father's blanket. At least he said thanks for the food.

By this time, Arielle was calm and her combee was conscious. She let the bug eat, though it had already eaten its fair share of oran berries before the battle, and headed to the river's edge, where she watched two trainers battle over on the other bank. One trainer used a petite, pink pokémon with strange, round things atop its head. The second trainer was using a small squirrel Arielle had always been a fan of – a pachirisu. Eventually, the pink pokémon (which Ari soon realised was a shellos) won with a mud bomb attack. The pachirisu didn't even know any electric-type attacks yet. It wasn't fair.

"Though the shellos had a type disadvantage to the pachirisu, it was still at a higher level and knew a better set of attacks than its foe." Ari's father sat next to her, watching as another small pokémon was sent out. This one was also something Ari would have liked to have owned – a cherubi. "Let's see how this one goes, hm?"

The cherubi was first to attack, throwing a number of small seeds around the shellos. The seeds immediately burst open and wrapped the water-type. This formed a very faint, green aura that connected the two pokémon and occasionally transferred small, shining green bubbles from the seeded to the seeder. The shellos was then ordered to use an odd attack that sent large balls of energy hurtling at the cherubi. The cherubi somehow caught fire and fell back, fainted.

"Hidden Power. If used correctly, it can be a huge table-turner in battle. I know," he sighed and laid back, propping himself up with his elbows. "It was the move that finished me in my last contest."

"The one at Hearthome," Arielle concluded, watching as the cherubi-pachirisu trainer walked over with a handful of money. The shellos boy took it and they parted ways. "Hey, why did she give him money just then?"

"If there haven't been any previous arrangements to the battle, a trainer has to surrender half of his or her money to their opponent if they lose. Your battle with Brody was under different terms, though, so there was no need to pay him."

That was a relief. At least Ari could keep her money. Something else, however, came to her mind. "Um. You know how you were going to battle Brody before I did?"

"You didn't battle Brody, you were flattened, but keep going," her father said, watching the water at their feet. It wasn't there before.

"Yeah, well, you know that pokéball you had? I thought you donated them to the day-care in Solaceon."

"I did," he said, standing. "Before we left I got Andy sent back to me, just in case. Better head back; the tide's coming in."


	3. A Long Road

**A Long Road**

Training was hard. Really hard. Arielle believed she was the type of person who could tolerate difficulties. She was clearly wrong. The first pokémon they pitched the combee up against was, funnily enough, a shellos. It was significantly smaller than the other trainer's, but it had this meanness to it. Luckily, the combee lasted through the sea slug's first and second attacks. The first because combee were part flying-type, so the mud bomb did sweet blow all. The second attack was weird. Pretty much all that happened is the shellos glowed for a bit and then became a little more firm.

Thanks to Brody, Ari was able to identify the attack as 'Harden', a move to raise defense, though it didn't do any damage, so it was useless. The combee was able to show off two of its attacks, one of which being totally useless to Ari. That one, though it smelt really nice and attracted a few more pokémon, did nothing. The second seemed pretty strong, though, and it hurled the sea slug into a nearby boulder. Ari was amazed that such tiny wings could cause such wind power. She wasn't happy, however, when the shellos got back up and spat a gush of water at the combee, causing it to faint.

"_Damn it!_" grunted Ari. The shellos squirmed away towards the river as she turned to face her father. Stupid water pulse. "The pokémon here are too tough, can we go somewhere else?"

"It'd be dark by the time we get back to Foaroma, so I think not," her father said, giving the fainted combee a revive, allowing it to slowly regain its altitude. "Try that bidoof, over there. Remember that battling has more to it than attacking."

Ari followed her father's pointed hand with her eyes until they landed on a brown lump in the grass. As if it could feel their stares on its back, the bidoof stood on its hind legs, showing its big-toothed face and tilting its head. The combee hesitantly drifted forwards, eyeing the bidoof attentively. The bidoof moved its head back upright and hid in the grass again, shuffling though it making weird noises.

"Uh... use that windy attack...?"

"Gust, Ari."

"Use gust!"

The combee began buzzing and flapping its little wings at a new speed and strength, sending a blast of air over the bidoof. It did nothing while the bidoof was hiding, though it did decide to stupidly raise itself on its hind legs again to investigate where the wind was coming from. The plump mouse pokémon was hit in the face by the gust and sent backwards into the grass. As quickly as it disappeared, however, it reappeared, leaping from the green to tackle the little bug pokémon.

"Moveoutoftheway!" Ari called desperately. They were running out of revives. The combee zipped to one side and hovered there.

"You know, it'd be easier to say 'dodge'," her father said.

"Right. Um. Gust again!" The attack hit, slamming the bidoof into the same boulder as the shellos. The bidoof staggered up. It seemed to be getting weaker. This time it let out an endearing growl, causing the combee to become a little less wary, though it didn't do any damage. Ari laughed. "What a stupid move. It didn't even do any damage. Use gust again!"

Once again, the bidoof was thrown into a tree. Ari waited for almost a whole minute before realising her victory. "Oh. Ohmygoshwe_won_!" She then commenced her own tackle attack, wrapping herself around the combee and squeezing it. It chirped its name merrily back, but sounded suffocated, so Ari let it go.

"Good work, Ari," Brody said, taking a few steps towards a nearby bridge. "I think I should go now. I really wanted to watch you win one, and now you have. This bridge takes me north, to Eterna Forest, then the city."

"Why not come with us?" Ari asked, a little unhappy about the fact that he was leaving. She was just starting to like him, just starting to get used to his company.

"Nah, I really want to finish the gym challenge in the next few months," he said, shrugging. "I'm applying for a job in the mines as soon as I finish, and applications end when the year ends. I'll see you another time?"

"That's fine," Ari said, slightly disappointed. It would have been cool to travel with someone her own age. Someone stronger, too. Someone who her father could trust so that he could go home and spare her the embarrassment. "Train Ari real hard for me."

"Will do. See ya, Mr. Leroy." And with that the boy headed across the bridge.

Ari and her father walked east for another hour or so before she got tired and decided she wanted her father to set up camp. He did all the work pitching, while Ari and her combee searched for firewood. Every now and then during the half an hour of wood-finding and tent-pitching, a bidoof or pachirisu would appear, and the combee would often lose, meaning Ari had to run away, carrying a pile of small logs and sticks and a fainted combee on top of them. The combee did gain quite a bit of experience through this, though, and after another hour of searching out weak pokémon and attacking, the combee's win-to-loss ratio began to alter. It began winning more and more battles.

It didn't take that long for them to fall asleep that night, even though it was the first night of their journey. The sleeping bags were a lot cosier than expected albeit a tad small. Ari preferred to fully unzip it and use it as a blanket, though. The combee slept in its pokéball because it was easier than having it share blankets. The sleep was relatively calm, the entire night. Ari slept through every happening outside. Her father woke up once or twice to pokémon calls, but nothing else.

The morning after, Ari had a horrible pain in her back. She had been sleeping on a rock the entire night, so she dismissed it as that being the cause. The voices of both a grown man and a young girl had been Arielle's alarm clock. She found the fact that she could sleep through an entire night of pokémon calls yet be awakened simply by two mumbling humans fairly odd. Their voice grew louder, though, as they came closer. They seemed to be walking along the path towards the wind works.

"Papa! Did you see? The balloon pokémon evolved!" the child's voice seemed really cute. Ari could have melted.

"Really? On Friday?" The man's voice was gruff and firm, but held a soft edge that gave him a caring sound. This was the point where Ari's father woke up.

"No, yesterday! It was outside with the windmills. It was so _cool!_" The girl gasped and her light footsteps grew louder and closer. Ari's father slipped out of his sleeping bag and crawled towards the entrance. "It's a tent!"

"Keep away from it, honey, there might be people sleeping inside." The girl began to skip away and the voices began to fade as they continued along the path.

There was silence while Ari's father unzipped and shuffled out of the tent. Ari decided to follow, grabbing the combee's pokéball on the way. Breakfast was simply peanut butter on toast from a quick fire the two built and after ten minutes of pulling the tent down it was time to figure out where to go next. It was a choice between the wind works and Route 205. In the end, the route was chosen, as the wind works weren't as necessary in the journey.

The first half of the trip, none of the trainers around seemed bothered with challenging Ari, as they were all about their own business, picnicking, hiking, or just desperate to get to the little lodge close to the Eterna Forest entrance. Ari did get a lot of wild pokémon battles, though, which gave the combee a chance to toughen up a bit more. They tended to stay away from the tougher pokémon, such as upper-levelled shellos and buizel, though after a while the combee was evidently the stronger of them.

For a while, Ari complained about how she was cut up about not being able to capture the drifloon-now-drifblim that was at the wind works the other day. She would have preferred to go there and catch that balloon pokémon, if she had known it was there and evolving. Why did it stay there the extra two days anyway? Did the evolution have something to do with it? Who really cared? She could have caught a really cool pokémon, but she didn't because her dad was too lazy and wanted to set up camp. It was his fault – again.

It wasn't until the leafy entrance to the Eterna Forest was in sight that Ari was challenged. It took a whole day – a _whole day_ for one challenger. It was almost dark, and Ari's thoughts were set on just getting to that little lodge and sleeping the rest of the night. The challenger could have come a little sooner. An hour or two ago would have been suitable, Ari wouldn't have been too tired for her at that point. However, the girl pleaded and Ari finally agreed.

The girl sent out a cherubi, and Ari's attention immediately kicked in. Looking up from the little grass-type pokémon to its trainer, Ari realised that her challenger was the same girl that was defeated by the kid with the shellos. She couldn't help but let a grin cross her face. This was going to be simple. And so, with confidence at a peak, Arielle Leroy threw the combee's pokéball, watching it burst open and blind her in the twilight. This light allowed her to properly view her opponent.

The girl was really thin, and pale. Her black hair fell to the middle of her back, held in a thick ponytail. She wore a pink corset-esque top and a simple, but short, white skirt. Her fishnet stockings only came down to her knees and at the end of her slender legs were a pair of the cutest shoes Ari had ever seen. They were regular, pale pink, canvas sneakers, but the way the girl had the shoelaces entwined so intricately really brought Ari's fascination forth.

So far, every trainer she had met on her oh-so-lame journey has had something she wanted. She could only hope it wouldn't continue that way. She wasn't stupid. Excess amounts of envy could be the downfall of a person, trainer or not. Still, Ari couldn't hold herself back.

"Where did you get those shoes?" Ari asked quickly (and loudly) as the light faded and the combee appeared, zipping around her happily, as usual, ready for the battle ahead.


	4. Feeling Seedy

**Feeling Seedy**

The girl didn't answer, probably didn't even hear Ari, though she said it loud enough. Was she deaf or something? Weren't deaf people usually mute, too? This couldn't be the case with her, though, because she was able to tell her pokémon – with her voice – to use a tackle attack. The little grass-type rushed forward, eyes clenched shut, and bounced up at just the right moment, slamming itself into the combee's front. The little honey gatherer back flipped a few times, but regained composure quickly.

"Use your gust attack!" Ari called, pointing her index finger out like the trainers on T.V. She thought she could hear her opponent chuckle as the combee buzzed a blast of air at the cherubi, throwing it back in front of its trainer. Ari used her pointed hand to scratch her head. From what she knew, the cherry pokémon knew tackle and leech seed, which coincidentally was the next attack the little pink thing was told to use. The combee was fortunate enough to be doubly-resistant to the grass-type attack and simply flew from the seeds' reach. The thin, life-leeching vines, however, wrapped themselves around the first available target possible: Arielle's left leg.

"Use g-gust again!" she called as she attempted to shake the Leech Seed from her legs. It was getting a little dark, and so she decided to try wrapping the battle up and getting to that little lodge.

The combee let a second blast of wind from its wings, knocking its opponent back once again. It staggered up, using the smaller cherry-head for leverage, and awaited its trainer's orders. The other trainer ordered her attack, and Ari was even watching as her mouths moved. Nothing came from them, but the cherubi nodded and jumped for another tackle attack. Its time in the air was way too long, and everything was still darkening. The cherry pokémon reached its target, crashing into the bug-type, who wasn't paying attention to the battling, more focused on Ari herself, wings flapping slowly. Ari continued to attempt to shake off the Leech Seed. It was then she noticed two things: the first being that everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, even her; the second was that everyone else (while moving in slow motion) was staring at her.

Everything around her started to spin and darken a little more before she fell back into her father's arms. Her stomach churned and contracted. She closed her eyes in an attempt to stop the dizziness, but even the blackness of her eyelids swirled. After a few moments, there was a buzzing in her left ear, and then in her other ear, and then in the left again. Her stomach readied itself to bring all the picnic food from inside up, but before that could happen, Ari had slipped into a dream.

The dream wasn't much. For the most part, it was a bunch of colours in the shapes of various pokémon, like cherubi, combee, piplup and shellos. However, after a while, the dream became her in a forest – a big, dark, ominous forest – staring at a small gap in some shrubbery. She began to feel sick again – sick in her _dream_ – as a pair of large, black eyes appeared, staring. It wasn't a calming stare, nor was it a frightening glare. They were just staring. A stare that made her feel sick. And then, as if an invisible hand had gripped the back of her shirt and pulled, she came out of the dream, five pairs of eyes staring down at her, in about the same way as those in her dream were. Of course, three of those pairs of eyes belonged to the one being.

"You nearly had me beat," said the mouth under the pair of eyes on her right. She blinked the person talking into clearer view and saw that it was her opponent: the girl with the nice shoes. Ari's father smiled down from her left and the combee buzzed in front of her, each face sporting a grin, as usual.

"Arielle, I think we should go home," her father said. Ari immediately sat up. Bad idea. Her stomach protested. "I really don't think you should do this. If this is what happens when you're with me, what will happen without me? You could die, even with me around, just as you saw. I would be responsible."

"Hey, I didn't die!"

"But you almost did." He looked down at his hands, attempting to get a sympathetic reaction from Ari. It only worked for the combee, who buzzed over and nestled up to the side of his head. "Usually attacks like Leech Seed don't affect humans all that much, unlike proper status conditions. It seemed lethal to you, though."

"Yeah, sure I got a little woozy and fainted, it's not like I—"

"You were here all night, shaking, pale, sweating, cold."

"Oh, come on, it was one time! What's the chance that I'll get hit by a Leech Seed again?" Ari persisted. There was no way she was giving up. She'd already gotten to Eterna Forest's edge; she wasn't going to back away from it now. "Besides, I feel fi..."

Karma. The only thing she could think was karma. For lying about feeling healthy, karma decided to make her throw up. Stupid karma. Luckily enough, though, the girl with the nice shoes was sitting right next to a bucket. She quickly lifted the bucket at the sight of Ari's suck face and thrust it in front of her before standing and taking a step back, just in case Ari missed. She didn't, which was fortunate, but on the contrary, her argument was not going so well.

Stomach contents in a bucket, Ari remained quiet, and so did the others. The only sound was the soft buzzing of the combee's wings and the gentle hum of the air conditioner next to the window. Ari took this time to survey her surroundings. She was lying in an uncomfortable, single bed in a large room full of identical beds; all set up close to the ground and had thin matresses and tough pillows. Some of the beds were occupied, but most were empty. There was a fairly large analogue clock hanging over the door at the end of the room that read noon. The rest of the trainers that were staying must have left already. The remainder must have been too lazy.

"I'm not going home."

"But Ari –" her father began, but was interrupted by the girl with nice shoes.

"Actually, if I could put in an objective opinion," she said, sitting back on the chair beside the bed. "I think she should keep training. I mean, there's not much of a chance that that would ever happen again. Leech Seed's a pretty basic attack, and I think the Eterna Gym's about where the trainers with pokémon that know the attack end, because they're not totally useful in battle after a while."

There was silence again, only for about a minute, before it was broke by Ari gagging over the bucket – again. Her father's expression showed nothing but worry, and he went to speak, but pulled back in concerned thought. Ari put the bucket on the ground beside her bed (on the girl with the nice shoes' side so that her father didn't have to smell it and worry more) and smiled groggily at the girl.

"I'm Arielle," she muttered, preferring not to hold out a hand. "And this is my dad. I didn't want him to come with me, but it seems he had a good reason to." The girl with the nice shoes smiled.

"I know, he was saying so when we brought you in," she said quietly. Ari's father left the room. "I'm Gabrielle Hockey. I'm a pokémon coordinator. Unfortunately I have no ribbons yet."

"But you were battling me..."

"Hey, battling's a part of contests, too. Besides, I need to train my cherubi and pachirisu up as much as I can – at least enough so that they have really pretty attacks, like Luciana's magical leaf... which she shouldn't learn for a little while."

There was another silence, which lasted thirty seconds before Ari's father cleared his throat.

"Fine." He was standing at the door, folding his arms in front of him; in one hand was a pokéball. "Fine. I'll let you continue. But I'm still accompanying you, at least until Eterna's badge."

She knew it. Arielle knew it. She'd won. Her father was letting her continue, and with him, which was great... kinda. She was continuing with her journey. Sure, her father was still accompanying her, but at least she was going. At least she could get to the point of catching a second pokémon, or gaining her first gym badge. At least she'd be safe... but still, she'd be the laughing stock of the entire world's trainer population with her dad following her around. She couldn't help but groan at both the thought and her pessimism.

---

After an hour of Arielle getting changed, refilling her stomach and apologising to the lodge's owner, the three were standing outside the huge, dense Eterna Forest. The trees stretched further than she could see, on either side, and upon looking in, she could see only darkness. It was still only just past one o'clock, but the woods were almost as black as the inside of a dusclops. It was kinda freaky, but Ari headed in anyway, her over-cheery combee zipping along behind her. Thirty seconds and she stopped abruptly; a light push on her back signalling her bug was still behind her, and the sounds of her father's thumping feet and Gabrielle's gentle ones soon followed.

"Okay. So. This place is big." Arielle slowly rotated on the spot, watching the scenery around her. "And all these paths confuse me. So, daddy, since you've been through here before, you're directing us. Enjoy."


	5. REVAMPING?

Hey guys, Jaye here!

Just a heads up. I'm discontinuing this fic and re-writing it for you. Most of the main characters will all be the same, so don't fret about that. There will just be a different setting, some adjustments to the protagonist's team (I'm thinking of changing her name as well) and I might do it in first person. There should be a title and summary change as well and the plot has been completely revamped by my two "beta"s, though they aren't really, but they are... yeah. You'd best keep a look out for it when it's up, I've really got a good feeling about this fic, and so I really want to write it to the best of my ability.

You should also be warned, my fics also have a dark streak to the world of Pokémon. So in this fic, you should expect some horrific activity that you would never see in the anime or anything.

If you have any question,s, want to help out, or just a comment, don't hesitate to PM me or something, 'kay?

Thanks.


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